Taiwanese judoka Lee Kai-lin (李凱琳) won Taiwan’s first medal at the London Paralympics on Thursday by reaching the final of the women’s under-48kg weight class.
The visually impaired Lee, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in her weight division, won silver after losing to Carmen Brussig of Germany in the event’s gold-medal bout.
The 35-year-old Brussig scored a waza-ari against her Taiwanese opponent, who was only able to manage a yuko.
Photo: CNA
In judo, an ippon is the highest score given for a throw or pin and it immediately ends a match. A waza-ari is the second highest score in the three-tier scoring system and it trumps a yuko, no matter how many are scored.
During their previous encounter at the International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA) world championships in Turkey last year, Lee defeated Brussig to win gold.
In her Paralympics debut this year, the 20-year-old Lee frustrated Solene Laclau of France to advance to the semi-finals and then moved on to the gold medal encounter by defeating 30-year-old Karla Ferreira Cardoso of Brazil by two yuko to one.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) and Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) sent congratulatory messages to Lee shortly after her success.
Lee, who suffers from congenital optic nerve atrophy and has very weak vision, took up judo when she was in second grade at school.
She said her grandfather started the family tradition of learning judo because many family members suffered from the eye disease and he thought mastering judo could be a way for them to protect themselves.
In high school, Lee’s coach refused to give her “special treatment” and made her train with other athletes who were not visually impaired.
That method toughened her and played a role in helping her win the gold medal at the IBSA judo world championships in Turkey in 2010.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS